Wheel and tire lifter



Oct. 7, 1952 A. R. BURCH 2,613,084

WHEEL AND TIRE LIFTER Filed Dec. 17, 1948 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 Oct. 7, 1952 A. R. BURCH 2,613,084

WHEEL AND TIRE LIFTER Filed Dec. 17. 1948 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 t INVENTOR. 7/ Y 4/7770/ 2 5401/7 i se. in mo nt n nd em un me. aut Qe e Patented Oct. 7, 1952 3 PATENT ounce ,a61a0s4af WHEEL nun rntarm'rnn:

Berl k lfl r. Calit, I Application December 17, 19 4s; SeriaLNo;;65,-779i! (amass My invention. relates to m ans torissistin e workm a dle. ai eti l rh avyi is c cern d. p cular y wi hast ust re man alone to. handle themat; all. In addition, while the demounting itself .iszhard enough; the reassembly of a tire and wheel-zwitn.its appropriate axle is even harder becausenpt only-must the lifting be eitectuated, ;but the assemloly mustwbe rather accurately positioned in order to engage. themounting and driving lugs normallyjzprovided.

Various structures assist; theroperator or user in these operations have; beenypropflsedyhut in many of them there is; either so much mechanism that they themselves are not readilyyand a i y r d about by nz r to eortheirzu involves motions of the user which are; awkward and do not assist but rather increase thee-difficulty in making thedesiredtohange.

It is thereforean-objectof: mytinvention; to provide a wheel and tire lifter mechanically guite simple and light and readilyiportablet so that) a user can put it into operation easilyt Another objector my invention is: toiprovidera wheel and tirelifter efiectivewtio; handle quite heavyloads. r

Another objector my invention is-toiprovidera wheel and tire lifter in which theusers motions in. employing the device assist rather; than hamper the operation.

A further object of the invention; is,;to;.pr0 vide a wheel and tire lifter usefuliniconnectionuwith different sized wheels and tiresllnterchangeahly within wide limits andalso useful for handling otherheavy objects.

Other objects together with; thet foregoing. are attained in the following description-pf thezinvention and illustrated. in theyaccqmpanying drawingsin which t Figure .1; is a plan of one:form.oiirvvheelnand tire lifter constructed in:accordance withrmyrinvventicn,

Figure.2 is a detailed cross;section, thev plane of which isindicated bytheilinej- -z of Figure l.

Figure} isa side elevation of the rstructure have i ere Figure 4 is a fragmentary sideqelevation of the Figure l'device shown. in anoperativeposition.

Figure Sis a plan'ofi asecond. form of wheel and fire liftenconstruotedin: accordance with my in-- l is Figure 9. 1s aiplan ofi-a third formof wheel and tire lifter m-iaccordance with-my invention.

Figure 10, ista side elevation .of; the Figure 9 Stru ture...

Figure ll isl-a side elevation of the "Figure 9 structure in-liftedposition;

In. its; preferred. formrthe wheel and tire lifter or my invention comprisesa frame. forked at one end to provide, a pair of tines at their extremities carrying: ground-engaging members, such as wheels At. the other ,endof the frame there is afforded... ahandle for grasping by theuser. Between;theggroundeengaging wheel and the handle andpreferably near: the wheels, I provide on the tines; of thefcrked member wheel-engaging or slmporting rollersarranged to: be lifted, into engagement. with. a. wheel and to lower with the wheelabout, theground-engaging members as. a u crum. H Whilethewheel and tire. lifter of my invention is. readily embodied. in numerous. different forms; partially depending upon theparticular environment in, whichitisprincipally to be utilized, it has "been successfully embodied. in the several forms illustratedherein.

First -,With, reference to the formshown in Figures 1 to eiinclusivathere is provided a frame generally. designated: H and preferably constitutedby. a tubular. cross-bar v l2. at its ends bent into curves i3. and M. to affordtwo parallel tines l6. and, Illextending in the same direction away fromjhe crossbar l2 and forming-a forked member; Between-theends'of the cross bar II and preferably disposed inthe. middle or substantially centrallythereof is atube Iii/also included. in the framework, II. and extending to a convenient Preferably the tines It and I1, although parallel to each other are not quite parallel to the 4 form shown in Figures 5 to 8 inclusive. In this form, while the framework All is substantially as previously described, ground engaging wheels 42 and 43 near the terminal of .the tine 44 are aligned on opposite sides of the tine in order to provide a balanced support. A similar pair of wheels 45 and 46 are disposed adjacent the end of the other tine 47.

, Instead ofthe supporting arms 3| and 32 being rigidlyfas'tened to the tines, however, the rollers 43 and A9 are supported on rocking frameworks iii and 52, respectively. These are identical and handle it so that the cross bar l2 forms another ground-engaging portion of the framework ll, especially as illustrated in Figure 3; In'thi'sposition of the device, the handle I 9 is spaced a convenient distance above the floor while the tines it and IT are sufficiently low to ride upon the wheels and 22 underneath a tire and wheel assembly to be moved. i

To engage the tire of such assembly, I' provide on each of the tines l6 and 7 a pair of inwardly projecting arms 3! and 32, respectively, which carry parallel shafts 33 and 34. On the shafts are rotatably mounted rollers 35 and 3! so that when the tire is supported upon the rollers, the tire itself canreadily be revolved about'its own EtXlS.

When therollers to and 3'! have been positioned under a mounted tire with the structure in its lowermost or flat position, substantially shown in Figure 3, the user by lifting upon the handle it causes the entire framework ll' to fulcrum aboutthe axis of the ground engaging wheels 25 and 22 until the wheel-engagin'g -rollers and 37 are in contact with the tire. Then, further movement of the'handlele upwardly toward the the causes a lifting action'so that the weight of the tire is-transferred to the support of the rollers 36 and 31. "As soon as it is free from its fastenings, the entire wheel assembly can then, with the handle 19 raised,,be moved along on the wheels 2! and 22. The user during this time stands with one hand on the handle I 9 and with his other supporting or bracing the upper portion of the tire resting on the rollers 36 and ii. Since the handle moves toward the tire as the tire is beinglifted, the user is'in a position to steady and brace the tire; This is in contradistinction to some previous devices in which, as the tire weight is shifted to the auxiliary supporting device, the user gets farther and farther away from his vantage point. t

In restoring a tire to the wheel, the reverse operation takes place in that the tire mounted on the rollers 35 and 31, with the handle [9 held in raised position by the user, is wheeledinto place. it is accurately located upon the mount ing studs or members since the user has one hand at the top of the tire and the other in raised or approached position on the handle 19. Then after the wheel and tire have been appropriately located, the handle it is lowered and theme weight is shifted from the auxiliary tool to its normal supporting members. Following that,the handle 3 Q is withdrawn and the mechanism rolls back on the wheels 2! and 22 and can be left against a wall or in a corner resting upon the tips 26. v V

The form of the device shown in Figure 1 is almost of elementary simplicity, and while it is entirely satisfactory for most purposes, it is improved upon in the case of very heavy units by: the slight modifications in" construction in the each of them is provided with a pair of arms 53 and 54 which engage the shaft 56 passing through the respective one of the tire-engaging rollers.

"Each rocking framework is also pivoted about a transverse axis 57 by a pin 58 passing through the material of the adjacent tine. Furthermore, the pivotal axis 5'1 is not quite concentric or symmetrical with respect to the rocking framework 5 l' which in addition is provided with an eccentric extension 5% so that normally the unbalanced weight of the roller and rocking framework assembly causes the roller to incline toward and into contact with the leading portion of the main framework 4i.

When the handle-513i of the structure is lowered and the framework is moved along into or away from operating position, the rollers 48 and 49 are automatically then held in approximately a horizontal attitude so that they slip in under or out from the wheeltire easily. When the handle 6! is'swung up or down, the weight of the tire upon the'r'ollers 43 and 459 causes a pivotal motion of the rollers about the axis 57 and the tire is readily maintained in substantially a vertical plane by the-operators other hand as the handle 6| is moved; The ratio of leverages about the fulcrum is maintained substantially constant. A positioning stop 63 can be provided on the framework 4! as an aid in locatingthe structure which otherwise-operates approximately as described in connection with the first device of Figures 1 to 4 inclusiveQ In other instances where the load may be very heavy indeed, and particularly where the-load may be quite eccentric with respect to the mounting wheel or is very wide, for example, in the case of airplanetires, I have provided a further modifiedform of wheel and tire lifter substantially as shown in Figures '9 to 11,- inclusive. In this instance a framework ii is provided with a handle lh substantially as before, and is formed with tines l3 and it constituting a fork. The lowermost or outermost ends of the fork tines 73 and M are provided with ground-engaging wheels "l6 and 11 respectively. These alone, however, are not relied upon solely to support the entire weight.

Auxiliary ground-engaging wheels 78 and 19 are disposed at the ends of links 8! and 82, which at their rearmost ends are pivoted on the axles 83 and 84 of the wheels 7-6 and l! respectively. Furthermore, additional links 86 and'B'I are pivoted to the axles Stand-89 of the wheels 18 and 19 and in their own turn are connected by pivots 9! and 92 vto'the respective one of a pair of frameworks 93 and 9 1, which at their rearward ends are connected by pivots 9S and 91 to the tines l3 and M. The locations of the various pivots 84, 89, 92, and 97, for example, are such that a parallelogram linkage is formed and one in which the points are so located" that when the device is in its lowermost position, Figure 10, a lifting motion of the handle 72 causes the main framework H to pivot about the axis of the wheels 16 and 11 to erect the parallelogram linkage and to lift the frameworks 93 and 94 in a parallel or planar or horizontal relationship. Mounted on the frameworks are concave rollers llll and H12 respectively journaled on shafts I03 and H14 mounted in theparallel arms I06 and Ill! projecting from the frameworks.

In the use of this device, when the handle IZis lowered, the mechanism is substantially flat and is rolled in under the tire and wheel assembly. Then when the handle 12 is lifted toward the tire by the operator, the rollers Illl and I02 are lifted in a substantially planar or parallel position until they engage the tire and wheel and assume its weight as it is being braced by the operator's other hand. The tire and wheel can then be removed to any convenient point. In restoring the parts, the reverse series of motions is followed.

I claim:

1. A wheel and tire lifter comprising a frame having a fork at oneend to provide a pair of tines, ground engaging wheels on said frame at said end, a handle at the other end of said frame, a pair of rocking frameworks each including a channel straddlin one of said tines, a pair of arms affixed to each of said channels and extending inwardly of said frame, a tire-supporting roller journaled between each of said pairs of arms, and pivots passing eccentrically through said channels and said tines an intermediate portion of said frame between said ground engaging works pivoted on said tines at a position between said ground-engaging members and said handle, each of said movable frameworks including a support straddling one of said tines, arms extending from the ends of each support in a direction inwardly of said frame and wheel-supporting rollers Journaled on said arms. i

ARTHUR R. BURCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,135,802 Dinkins Nov. 8,. 1938 2,345,458 Caron Mar. 28, 1944 2,417,644 Graham Mar. 18,. 1947 2,470,685 Brown May 17,. 1949 Tway May 24, 1949 

